


Not How the Story Goes

by MermaidMarie



Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: AU where things are somehow even worse, Angst, Episode: s04e05 Escape From the Happy Place, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-12-07 18:16:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18238514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MermaidMarie/pseuds/MermaidMarie
Summary: In which Alice never came to save Quentin, and Quentin died in 4x05.





	Not How the Story Goes

**Author's Note:**

> AU where I'm a nicer person and never wrote this at all.

Quentin’s hands still ached. Two straight days, he’d been bleeding the goddamn stone. Hiding the jar when the Monster came back, coming up with more elaborate reasons to distract him, Julia essentially babysitting. The jar was finally full enough. They had enough blood from the stone. Today was the day. 

The sun was too bright at the park. The weather was too nice, too mild and pleasant. Quentin felt sick. It was a monster, he knew, he _knew_ that it was a monster. He knew they had to get rid of it. It had been dragging him along for months, forcing him to participate in its fucked-up _games,_ breaking his bones when he didn’t comply. There was no reasoning with the Monster, and they’d been the ones to let it out of that prison in the first place, so it was their responsibility.

Quentin _knew_ all this.

But he couldn’t feel okay here. After this was all over, he’d never see Eliot again. He knew that it wasn’t really Eliot, Eliot was gone, that even if it sometimes felt like he was looking at Eliot, it was just a monster using his body.

It was still going to hurt. He didn’t want to have to do this. He didn’t want to let go.

He’d never see Eliot’s face again, never look in his eyes again. Once he did this, Eliot would be fully and truly gone. No coming back.

Quentin tried to pull himself together. He couldn’t start grieving now. If he fell apart, he’d get crushed. He wasn’t sure how he was ever supposed to recover, so best to just keep numb. Letting himself feel the weight of Eliot’s absence just wasn’t an option.

They were on their way. Julia had texted. Quentin took a breath, clutching the jar at his side, trying to keep it out of view. _God_ , he didn’t want to watch Eliot die.  

A ball rolled past his leg. Distracted, Quentin glanced down. A small dog jumped at him, wagging its tail.

“Hi there,” Quentin said softly, leaning down to pick up the ball.

“Sorry about that,” a woman said, out of breath as she ran over.

“Oh, um, no problem,” Quentin replied, scratching the dog’s ear. “I don’t mind.”

“Still trying to get him to come when he’s called,” she said with a laugh. “You have a dog?”

“No, I—uh…” he started, glancing back just in time to see the Monster approaching.

The next few things all happened at once. The dog started barking. The Monster looked down, seeing the jar in Quentin’s hand. Quentin tried to hide the jar behind him, but he dropped it, spilling the blood across the grass. And the Monster, with a glare and a single hand motion, sliced Quentin’s neck.

Quentin barely had time to register what was happening before he fell to the ground.

\---

“If I ever get out of here, Q, know that when I’m braver, it’s because I learned it from you.”

Eliot heard the door before he saw it. He was still looking at Memory Quentin, wishing that he could go back and live this moment differently. He got up slowly, finding it hard to turn away. _When I get out, when I get my body back, I’ll tell Q I’m sorry. I’ll fix this. I’ll fix it._

Squaring his shoulders and taking a deep breath, Eliot opened the door. He didn’t know what he’d find on the other side. He didn’t know how long he’d have.

He was just going to have to hope someone was out there to hear him.

Eliot walked through the door.

The first thing he heard was a woman’s scream.

He stumbled a little, trying to get a handle on himself. He had control again, but he could feel how fragile it was, how temporary it was. He was only going to have a few moments, so he had to make them count. Eliot started to look around, trying to see who he could talk to.

And then he saw. Straight ahead.

It took him a moment to understand. It took him a moment to recognize.

There was blood pouring from a man’s neck. A woman running towards him as he fell. Wait, was that Julia?

Eliot went cold.

_Oh, no. Oh, fuck, no._

_Quentin._

“Q…” he said, barely audible. He ran forward, kneeling on the ground. “Oh, god, Q…”

Julia flinched away from him, but she seemed to try to cover it. “It’s okay, it’s okay,” she said, almost gently. “If you want to… You can fix him, can’t you? You can undo it?”

Who was she talking to?

“Quentin, wait, wait, wait, it’s gonna be okay,” Eliot said, reaching forward with a trembling hand. There was so much blood. Quentin’s eyes were shut. It couldn’t happen like this, this wasn’t how it was supposed to go. They were supposed to have a _chance._ Their story couldn't end like this. “Q, can you hear me? Q?”

Julia stared. “Eliot?” she said hesitantly.

“We have to do something. We, uh—we have to stop the bleeding,” Eliot said. Even as he said it, he felt how hopeless it was. He took off the coat that was on him and put the sleeve against Quentin’s neck. But how hard was he supposed to press? And what else was he supposed to do? Jesus, fuck, what he wouldn’t give to be a Healing student right about now.

This _wasn’t_ how it was supposed to go. Eliot was supposed to get control, find his friends, let them know he was alive, and hope that they could do something to help him. He was just supposed to get a message out.

“Q, Q, hang on, alright?” he said softly, leaning forward. He brushed Quentin’s hair back from his forehead and cupped his cheek, rubbing gently with his thumb. Quentin was already getting paler. “It’s gonna be okay, it’s gonna be okay, it _has_ to be okay.”

Quentin’s eyes fluttered. He seemed to keep them open just long enough to meet Eliot’s gaze, looking confused and a little afraid.

Eliot clenched his jaw, feeling the urgency overwhelm him. “Coldwater, I swear, if you die on me now, I’ll never forgive you. _Please,_ Q.”

His voice kept breaking. He couldn’t get a handle on himself. He could barely breathe. Good, brave, _kind_ Quentin. This couldn’t be happening.

“Eliot, we—we thought you were dead,” Julia said quietly.

Eliot looked up, meeting Julia’s eyes. It was what he’d come here to do, but it just didn’t seem important anymore. “Save Quentin. Do you understand? _Find_ a way.”

Julia looked like she was about to respond, but his control was fading fast. He didn’t get to hear her response before the Monster took over again, and he was back outside the Physical Kids Cottage.

He went back in, leaning heavily against the door. The image of Q’s closed eyes flashed in his mind, but he pushed it away. He couldn’t let himself feel the weight of what just happened. He’d get crushed.


End file.
